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| O Rex Gentium |
In yesterday's post I mentioned that the O Antiphons are intended to be prayers. In researching today's post, I came upon an article that speaks to a way to pray the Antiphons. Click THIS LINK to read on! And now the sonnet inspired by the antiphon...
O Rex Gentium*
O King of our desire whom we despise,
King of the nations never on the throne,
Unfound foundation, cast-off cornerstone,
Rejected joiner, making many one,
You have no form or beauty for our eyes,
A King who comes to give away his crown,
A King within our rags of flesh and bone.
We pierce the flesh that pierces our disguise,
For we ourselves are found in you alone.
Come to us now and find in us your throne,
O King within the child within the clay,
O hidden King who shapes us in the play
Of all creation. Shape us for the day
Your coming Kingdom comes into its own.
-- Malcolm Guite, Sounding the Seasons, Canterbury Press, 2012
To hear the antiphon chanted in English and Latin, as well as the sonnet read aloud by the poet, click HERE.
*Scriptural sources: Isaiah 28:16; Ephesians 2:14.
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